Eternal Penance
by Rago Dragovian
Summary: After escaping his own Karma, Serph Sheffield meets someone who shows him just what he lacked in his plan to take God's power for himself.


Disclaimer: MegaTen is Atlus's and not mine.

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><p>The abyss of death, his soul wandered through a black void as he escaped Karma's retribution. He had escaped due to God's weakened state after an epic battle. He was utterly lost and he didn't know what to do. All he could do was lament on his failures.<p>

"Damn it, how could this happen! Why?" snarled Serph Sheffield reminiscing his life, "I was to attain the power of God! Everything was working perfectly but then… then… goddamnit this is all O'Brien's fault! And Sera's fault! And… and…"

"Sounds like you're just trying to blame everybody else," interrupted a voice from the darkness, "You failed, tough shit. It happens all the time to people."

Serph turned around to see a man in a brown padded shirt, white pants, and brown shoes. The man was wearing some stupid looking purple hat, had long black hair, and a long black beard. Serph snorted in disdain.

"And who might you be? Some hippie variation of Jesus Christ?" bit out Sheffield, "Let me guess, I didn't have some _peace and love _or other stupid trite, right? What are you suppose to be, exactly? An angel who has come to judge me? Trying to send me back to that sun?"

"Nope, not at all… I just came wandering here and listened to your whining." replied the annoying man, "I've got to say that you sound pathetic…"

An aimless soul of the void? Pitiful.

"How dare you speak to me in such a manner!" shouted Sheffield, not wanting to bother with the idiot, "You have no idea what I've been through! The great scope of what I tried to achieve!"

"I bet you that I did more than you could in life before _you _died. I was close, s_o very close, _to obtaining the power of God. If only that stupid girl had-!"

"There you go again," said the man pointedly, he sighed in exasperation. "And you shouldn't make presumptions…"

"I killed a God. I killed him and was damned for all eternity as the ultimate sin."

"That is bullshit," said Sheffield confidently, "God cannot be created or destroyed. And you murdering a deity? Nobody is capable of that!"

"Weren't you just saying 'I was to attain the power of God'?" asked the man sarcastically, "How is that more likely?"

"All things are possible… but you have to be willing to make the sacrifices to have them come true."

"Only fools are ever sacrificed," argued Sheffield, "The weak and the stupid are the only ones who are used to bring about further glory. In my case, it is through science. Science has always exploited others to advance research. I am no different!"

"Hardly any scientific mind did so to try and obtain God's power," said the man simply, "Honestly, if you actually thought that using other people could allow you to obtain God powers then you're an idiot. This isn't about right or wrong. You have to be willing to put in the sacrifices yourself."

"Oh, what would you know of anything!" snarled Sheffield, "Who are you anyway? Who are you to criticize me? I'm Serph Sheffield, Chief Scientist of the Karma Society's God Project!"

"I'm Jyoji Hij-" he stopped midsentence, his face seem to shine with understanding. "No… I'm no longer that. I am Aleph. I don't have a last name. I use to be some dumb teenager trying to do what was right by how he perceived his world."

"And you killed God? How could you have accomplished such a thing!" said Sheffield in disbelief, "No mortal could accomplish such a thing! How could one man destroy the Creator of all life? Even with help, it would be impossible! God can shape, create, and destroy all data in the world! God is the strongest in the universe!"

"Actually, I believe others can lay claim to that…" said Hijiri, "God is not the strongest entity by any means. Many have sacrificed themselves to oppose His will. Many fight the unstoppable tide of battle knowing that they'll lose. Regardless, each of them destroyed an aspect of Him."

"They all face damnation for their troubles. Their sacrifices, however, weren't in vain. I made one such sacrifice myself…"

"You are a fool who understands nothing!" shouted Sheffield hoarsely, "And if what you're saying is true then ALL of those people are idiots!"

"Why don't you ask them?" asked Hijiri as he vanished into darkness, "Ask those who were 'foolish' enough to face a God on their own… and win."

"The fact so many have lost in this pursuit proves that I am correct," said Sheffield in confidence, facts didn't lie. "What does this have to do with my anyway? I was going to take His power in the intelligent way. I would siphon his power using others as a sacrifice!"

"Controlling God's power is impossible for you," Sheffield turned to see a blue-haired schoolboy with a long bang covering one of his eyes, "Unlike us, you were never willing to face God on your own."

"I looked a Goddess in the eyes and knew that putting her away would end my life. I did it gladly… and if I could go back then I wouldn't change anything. I don't have any regrets going beyond the beaten path and facing the absolute end. My path was to save humanity… or more precisely, just my friends. It is neutral."

He faded into darkness. Sheffield snorted at him. The kid had been a foolish-goody-two-shoes schoolboy. Nothing more…

A bright holy light emerged to his left. Sheffield turned in that direction and backed-up in disgust. It was a grotesque man-woman. Was that… Sera? Another one appeared… there were two of them!

"My comrades and I sacrificed ourselves to bring back life to the world," said the two Seraphs, speaking as one, "We would not change anything because the conclusion we reached – the sacrifices we made to get there – was all worth saving our world."

"My path was of Shanti: of peace, tranquility, calmness, and rest. We changed the world you existed in into a hospitable one once again. My acceptance of Shanti was lawful."

They faded… Sheffield felt like gagging when he had looked at it. It was a hideous abominable monster… probably another of Sera's stupid fantasies!

A glow of fire from candles to his right made him turn his eyes. He turned his body to see menorah's lit around a dark silhouette. The person had several shaman-like tattoos covering their body. Sheffield couldn't see his face but he was alarmed by the glowing red eyes.

"I sacrificed my entire world to wage war upon God. I killed my friends and the other survivors. I destroyed all opportunities for the world to flourish into a prosperous one," Sheffield could see the cruel smirk, "I face eternal damnation for my transgressions."

"I destroyed God… and went on to destroy many more. However, my life was finite. After so much destruction, I eventually died but making those sacrifices were well worth it. Death is vast; I'll journey through it. I will continue to fight against God's tyranny. I'm part of Chaos, I've walked over an ocean of corpses to follow my choice."

The menorahs' blew out. He was gone. Sheffield turned left to see a young man in a strange cyber uniform.

"We've all sacrificed something of great value… our life, our friends, or our world…" said Aleph, "In my case, it was my afterlife. I was damned like the reincarnation of Adam before me…"

"You never had a chance to succeed in your ambitions. You weren't willing to pay the full price for it. You even ran away from your own karma because you couldn't take it… your fake is better than you in every regard and that's pretty sad."

"WHAT!" shouted an indigent Sheffield, "What do you mean! How could such a thing be true?"

"AI Serph has surpassed you in every regard…" said the voice of Heat O'Brien from around the dark void, Sheffield looked upward at the dark sky, "He and Sera attained Enlightenment. That half-gender being was the culmination of their achievements. They are One with God."

"They succeeded in doing something that you could never do. They even reproduced their own souls. An aspect of themselves will be reincarnated in the rejuvenated earth along with myself."

"STOP TALKING NONSENSE!" cried Sheffield, "What you're saying is completely impossible! There is no way that any of that could be true! That fake thing cannot-"

"Facts don't lie." said Aleph softly, causing Sheffield to look at him once more. "You're doomed to wallow here alone. You accomplished one thing… you rejected your own karma and disentangled yourself from being free of sin."

"While I am without karma as well, my soul does get to enjoy living different lives before being doomed to die repeatedly. You, however, have no world left to return to. Satan has taken your place and resides within that world now. You have nowhere to go… your soul will suffer here forever."

"…No," Sheffield shook his head in terrified denial, "I… I can get through this!"

"No, you can't," said Aleph flatly, "Unlike myself and those others, your Will is weak. All of us have strong wills independent of other factors. We don't need gods even if some of us have pledged allegiance to them."

"You will not be able to get out of here and won't have anyone to stay with you."

"Wh-what about O'Brien! He's here, right? Or… or Argilla! She killed O'Brien! She should be here with me!"

"O'Brien only came to tell you what happened and he has gone on to reincarnation," spoke Aleph firmly, "As has Argilla, you have no one to stay with you."

"What… what do I do?" asked Serph Sheffield desperately finally realizing who the real fool was, "What can I do?"

"Only you can answer that." said Aleph as he vanished once again to be manipulated for his defiance of God.

Sheffield hollered to wait as Aleph vanished completely. There was nothing to be done. He was doomed to wallow the void forever…

Serph Sheffield was utterly lost and didn't know what to do. All he could do was lament on his failures…

Facing death would've been better than this…


End file.
